Tigers open at No. 3 in nation

STOCKTON - The Pacific men's water polo team seems poised for its best season ever in 2013, but it will not be surprising anyone.

Jagdip Dhillon

STOCKTON - The Pacific men's water polo team seems poised for its best season ever in 2013, but it will not be surprising anyone.

The coaches in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation ranked the Tigers No. 3 in the preseason poll released Tuesday, sandwiched between the four great powers of water polo. Five-time defending champion USC is No. 1, Stanford is No. 2, while UCLA and Cal tied for fourth. It's the highest ranking in program history for Pacific, which finished sixth at the MPSF Tournament in December.

Last season, the top eight teams came out of the MPSF, so it is essentially a national poll.

"I believe the ranking is fair and I'm pretty excited about it," Pacific coach James Graham said. "It shows we're among the elite teams in the nation, and now there will be pressure on us to compete at that level. The guys know what's on the line, and it's an excellent atmosphere to be in."

Graham welcomes back all of last year's key contributors - including national player of the year Balazs Erdelyi - and is also blending in three-time All-American Goran Tomasevic, who redshirted last season. That gives the Tigers five players that have earned All-American recognition in their careers, including Alex Obert, Aleksander Petrovic and goalkeeper Alex Malkis last season.

"I personally have high expectations for myself and the team," said Erdelyi, who helped Hungary win the University Games during his summer break. "One thing we can't do is let the pressure have any effect on us due to expectations. We need to focus on our games."

Graham believes the Tigers will be explosive offensively, but said defense will determine if they can compete at the highest level.

"We have to upgrade our mentality, fight harder and play like every ball counts and avoid the stupid mistakes," Malkis said.

Pacific finished 13-12 last season and Tomasevic has reminded his teammates during training camp this week they haven't yet earned their high ranking. The Tigers will get their chance to do so beginning Sept. 7 when they host Santa Clara at Chris Kjeldsen Pool.

"No one ever did anything great without great expectations," said Obert, who represented the U.S. in the World Championships last month. "You need them to drive you through tough practices and days you're hurting. I think it's a good thing for our team to have that, because we know what we're fighting for."